Those awards came after a year of heavy touring in support of Dailey & Vincent Sing The Statler Brothers, a tribute to one of the duo’s primary influences.

“This was my dream record,” said Dailey, who began listening to the Statlers in childhood. “My dad bought me a Statler Brothers record and I heard (Statlers member) Jimmy Fortune sing ‘Elizabeth,’ and I thought “That’s what I want to do.”

The show was broadcast live on Sirius XM satellite radio, and it included a multi-artist run through songs from the wildly popular O Brother, Where Art Thou? movie soundtrack, on the 10th anniversary of that Grammy-winning effort’s release.

Click to take a look through some of Buddy Miller's many noteworthy collaborations (photo: Paul Moore).

Jim Lauderdale pondered the plight of his friend Buddy Miller. The two have known each other for decades, and for much of that time Miller was scuffling, playing music when possible and selling guitars to cover the bills when necessary.

These days, Miller performs with Robert Plant, Emmylou Harris and Patty Griffin. He records acclaimed albums on his own and with wife Julie Miller. He produces landmark works for Plant, Griffin and others, writes songs recorded by country stars and is celebrated as a leading light in American music.

These days, he is featured in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Sing Me Back Home exhibit, and this month, he is the Hall’s Artist In Residence, fronting star-packed shows at the Museum’s Ford Theater tonight (Tuesday, Aug. 10) and on Aug. 17 and 24.

“Sometimes, there is justice in the music business,” said Lauderdale, himself a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter. “It was a long time coming for Buddy, and it’s heart-warming to see it all come around.”Continue reading →

Court Yard Hounds/Dixie Chicks member Martie Maguire tells Billboard.com that we can expect to hear some new sounds from the Chicks soon. But it'll be alongside a new collaborator: Banjo man/actor/comedian Steve Martin has tapped Maguire and her bandmates to sing on a track from the in-the-works follow-up to his The Crow: New Songs For the 5-String Banjo.

"It was right up our alley, because we are looking for projects that are fun and exciting and different, and that's just something that's perfect," Maguire told Billboard.com. "Of course we said yes to begin with, but then he sent the song and it's really good, so we're really excited. I think we assumed we were going to play, but he's got this amazing bluegrass band (North Carolina's Steep Canyon Rangers), so we're just harmonizing."

Billboard naturally inquired about whether this might be a step toward a new Dixie Chicks album -- which would follow up 2006's Taking the Long Way. Fellow Chicks/Hounds member Emily Robison was somewhat vague/diplomatic when it came to predicting.

"We just kind of (take) one thing at a time as far as opportunities from the outside," she said. "I think we're excited to start writing again and getting new songs for whatever project they happen to be for. But (The Dixie Chicks) had a lot of fun in June playing with the Eagles, so I would dare say that in the next nine months we'll be doing something, one way or another."

A collaborator by nature, Scott wrote each of the album’s 20 songs, and he played every instrument on every track. The songs are a roughly chronological chronicling of 30 years of real-life relationships.

“This record is pretty scary to me in many ways,” Scott said. “I figure that’s the job description; it’s what I’m supposed to do. I guess it might not be courage. Could be stupidity, or that terrible word: vanity. But to me it’s what I had to do. It’s an internal approach, rather than me thinking of clever things to say.”

Take a cue from the CMA Music Festival and Bonnaroo tourists. Even if you live in a city rich with live music every week, sometimes it’s nice to get out of town to hear some. And while Music City gets most of the biggest tours — Paul McCartney comes to the Bridgestone Arena in July — we don’t get them all. With that in mind, here are some tours worth traveling for this summer.

Brad Paisley

Brad Paisley’s last single, “American Saturday Night,” was his 12th No. 1 song in a row. With his massive current H20 World Tour presented by Chevrolet themed around his new single, “Water,” his chart-topping streak seems destined to continue.

Setting the stage: Paisley’s H20 tour launched in Virginia Beach, Va., on May 21, fewer than three weeks after the bulk of his stage set and touring gear was lost in Middle Tennessee floodwater. His crew managed to replace the equipment and start the tour on schedule. Paisley’s tour wraps Sept. 25 in Denver.Continue reading →

Leaving the cozy Station Inn, it’s a couple blocks north on 12th Avenue, then east on Broadway for a half mile, down to the Bridgestone Arena. For most people, it takes about 10 minutes. For much-awarded bluegrass band The Grascals, it took about six years.

While it's tricky work, establishing an identity for a new band alongside an already established, successful one, Maguire told the AP that she's enjoying it.

"When I look back at some of the Chicks stuff, it's the early stuff we did where we kind of giggle and go, 'You know what? Those were the good old days,'" she said. "We're feeling kind of those butterflies in our stomach once again."

Full rundown from the AP:

NEW YORK (AP) - Even though the Court Yard Hounds are a new group, they are hardly your typical baby act. The duo is derived from one of music's best-selling bands -- the Dixie Chicks -- and their self-titled debut album is already among the spring's more anticipated releases.

Yet sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison are finding themselves working much like every other fledgling group, as they try to establish an identity that will shine despite the oversized shadow cast by the Grammy-winning, multiplatinum Chicks.Continue reading →